Values
by lakariana
Summary: A small missing scene from Endgame. Set sometime during the planning montage, Scott's new reality sends his head spinning for a moment and Cassie proves despite the extra years she's still her Daddy's biggest supporter. Steve bears witness and feels guilty.


**Author's note**: Still processing some Endgame emotions. This one is something a bit lighter than the last. We don't need spoiler warnings here anymore right? Well just in case major plot spoilers ahead. This is set during the heist planning montage.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any plot points or characters, they belong to Disney and Marvel.

…..

Steve stomped along the compound corridor towards the hanger they were using to construct the time machine. Tony had filled him in on on their progress, or lack of progress, and his frustration was gnawing at him. Apparently a couple of components or connections or some word Steve had never heard of before wasn't compatible with Scott's van mounted quantum tunnel, so they'd had to start over building a completely new time machine.

_Sorry Rogers, you can't give the quantum realm a motivational speech and get it to do whatever you want. _Damn, Tony and his sarcasm, always pushing Steve's buttons. He was supposed to be Captain America, he was supposed to be an Avenger, a hero other heroes could turn to and he was just standing around being ineffectual, just like he'd been doing for the last five years.

_Lang's being admirably proprietary about some of Pym's tech, but since he doesn't wanna share with the rest of the class, I've left him to it. _He'd left Scott to it? What did that mean? Sure, this had all been his idea but Scott had also been the one to tell them he had no idea how to get it to work. Now all the issues slowing up the completion of the the time machine seemed to stem from Scott and his tech and Steve was just about ready to knock the guy's head against his ugly brown van.

As he neared the hanger doorway he heard voices talking. One was the low gentle tones of Scott's voice, the other was female and younger and sounded slightly muffled.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Hank designed his system specifically to be incompatible with Stark's," Scott was saying.

"Like using metric?" the younger voice asked in amusement.

"Or some scale of his own. Standard scales are beneath my work, I shall create my own," Scott declared with an odd sort of rattle in his voice that suggested he was trying to imitate someone. "Ah, on top of that I think Stark is pissed I wouldn't let him poke around the suit. He said he wanted to compare it to the quantum tunnel and how Hank builds his tech, but I didn't buy it. I kept hearing Hank yelling at me in my head. I couldn't betray him like that, not after last time, even if Stark was telling the truth and it'd help put this thing together faster."

Wait what? Steve fumed. Scott was stopping Tony from seeing tech that might make this whole thing easier? How did that make any sense? Lang had been pushing this forward since he arrived and now he was holding out on them? Just as his frustration was about to erupt into something he'd probably not be proud of later the young voice echoed out around the hanger again and derailed his thoughts.

"Are they being nice to you yet?" she asked.

"Well…" was all Scott replied ruefully.

"They're not!" she exclaimed. "How dare they? They wouldn't even have a plan if it wasn't for you."

"They're a big deal Cassie," Scott soothed. "And I'm-"

"You're a big deal too, you're Antman," she cut in, with a level of sincerity that only exists when you're young.

"That doesn't mean a lot when you're sitting next to Captain America and the The Hulk," Scott sighed.

Leaning out of the doorway carefully Steve could see the other man as he bent over an opening in the top of a half built console. His phone was resting on a large blueprint next to him and Steve quickly realised he'd put a call on loudspeaker so he could keep working as he chatted. His hands moved slowly and precisely as wires and circuit boards and other unrecognisable doodads came together. So that's what Tony had meant, he'd quite literally left Scott to build the time machine.

"The same Captain America that asked you for help because he didn't have enough friends?" Cassie asked pointedly.

Ouch, Steve winced, leaning back against the wall. Whoever she was she wasn't a fan of his then. Oh, that's right, Cassie was the name of Scott's daughter. Steve felt a bit embarrassed at having forgotten. Scott tended to mention his daughter every other time he opened his mouth. For some reason he had imagined her to be younger though. The voice leaving the phone and echoing around the hanger sounded around sixteen. Steve then doubled down on his embarrassment when he put together what had happened.

"Oh _yeah_, you're right it is the same guy," Scott laughed, pretending he'd forgotten. "Anyway, it's not like it's really _me_ they wanted. It's all the suit and the suit is… Hank's."

Steve glanced back out just in time to see an odd expression wash over Scott's face. He suddenly stepped back from the console, his back stiff and eyes wide. Steve watched in concern, hesitating to leave his hiding place as Scott looked around himself, his gaze ghosting over the half assembled tech and computers, the long white floor and the high windows.

"Oh God, what am I doing here?" he asked. He dropped the wire cutters he was holding and snatched up the phone with shaking hands.

"Dad? You OK?" Cassie asked through the rattle of Scott's clumsiness.

"No, I'm not. I'm so sorry Cassie. I can't believe I did this again. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here. Your mother told me once, well she shouted at me once, that I was idiot for wanting to be a hero. Well I finally get it. Don't tell her I said that though, because it's been a lot of years since she said it and it'll only irritate her now."

"Sure Dad," Cassie said obediently. "But are you-"

"You know, you had just turned three when I found out I was working for the bad guys?"

"Yeah, I kno-" Cassie started, but Scott hadn't really been asking and bulldozed on with his speech.

"They conned people out of their money, and I was working for them so that made me one of the bad guys too. I couldn't stand it. So, I stole all the money they'd taken and gave it back to the people it belonged to. And it felt so good. I helped people who couldn't get help from anyone else. They didn't even know I existed and I had helped them. But all that happened was that I ended up in jail and I left you and your mother alone for three years."

"Mom wasn't lonely that long," Cassie pointed out, but Scott didn't seem to hear her.

"As soon as I'm out I meet Hank and he needs a substitute to use the suit and save the world," he went on. "He barely had to convince me. They needed me to be the hero and I wanted to prove I could be one. And I nearly lost you because of it. But did I learn my lesson? Nope."

Scott was rambling in agitation now, pacing up and down a couple of steps and waving his hands in wide motions. A habit Steve recognised from when the man had appeared as if by magic at their front gate raving about quantum realms and time machines.

"It wasn't-"

"Because _Captain America_ calls up and needs help to save his buddy, needs Antman to be a hero. So, I got on a plane and went to Germany and guess what? Got arrested," Scott spat, bitterness coating every word.

"You know we-" Cassie said, trying to cut off his rant before he got too upset.

"No, your mother was right, and we're still not telling her that, but I am an idiot. Thinking I can be like these guys. I'm not a hero," Scott went on, his voice rising.

"Dad," Cassie tried again more firmly, but Scott was on a roll and didn't hear her.

Steve was pretty shocked at the self loathing that was pouring out of his normally quiet and optimistic associate. Ah, was that part of the problem? That even with half of his friends and allies taken from him, Steve Rogers still categorised the guy as only _an_ _associate_? Scott was right, he had come when he'd asked for help and he'd gotten arrested, and lost any good will he'd earned as an ex-con, because of it and Steve hadn't even checked up on the man in the two years afterwards.

He'd not treated him as a friend since he'd got here either, focusing on the mission instead, as always. He'd been distantly aware that Scott was generally keeping away from everyone, probably trying not to get in the way and avoiding the insults Rocket and Tony tended to throw around. Watching easygoing Scott Lang meltdown was plenty of evidence of how selfishly he'd behaved. From Scott's perspective he was only days into the post Thanos world and was still coming to terms with losing loved ones. Had anyone taken the time to check on how he was coping? Shouldn't the virtuous Captain America know?

"I can't believe I left you again," Scott repeated. "After being gone for five years. I mean they're the only ones who can make this happen. I had to tell them, about the quantum realm, about what it could do. I wanted… I _need_ things back as they were. I need… I need Hope... and Hank and I'd only just met Janet, but she seemed nice, so I want her back too. But I _have_ you and I still left you to play the hero. Except I'm not, I'm just soldering circuits that I'm pretty sure Stark could design a robot to do. What kind of a father am I? The Avengers don't need _me_. I gave them the idea, they have Stark and Bruce to make it happen. I'm just an average electrical engineer at this point. I'm leaving and I'm coming home."

"Dad!" Cassie was really sounding worried now.

"What about Antman?" Scott said to himself still not hearing his daughter. "I mean they still might need the suit. Ah, I can teach Clint how to use it. But If I leave it here and Stark steals Hank's tech he'll never ever forgive me… but if it was to save the world? No, he wouldn't buy that. I'll bring the suit back with me too. They'll do fine without it."

"Daddy?" This time Cassie's voice was soft but the pained tone was loud enough to finally cut through Scott's muttering.

"Are you OK Peanut?" he asked gently. All previous freaking out put aside automatically for his daughter.

"There's this support group I go to for kids that lost their parents. There's an annual barbecue-"

"I'll be there," Scott said already turning to make for the door.

"No Dad, it was today. I was supposed to bring the cups and plates, but I didn't go,"

"You didn't? How did everyone hold their food?" Scott asked frowning.

"I wasn't in charge of napkins, I'm sure they sorted something," Cassie said exasperated. "That's not my point. I didn't go because I was too happy."

"Happy?"

"Because of you. You came back. How can I go and see my friends and talk about our missing families? They would have known something was up straight away and I couldn't tell them about you because that'd just be cruel."

"Oh." Scott slumped back and slid heavily down to sit against the console he'd been working on, the phone now cradled in his hands.

"So you have to stay there and help. You're going to help the Avengers save everyone and bring everyone's parents back and then they will be as happy as I am and we can invite them all to a barbecue at ours and have fondue," Cassie said, her voice sounding so sure that Steve felt his own doubts lifting.

"Fondue? At a barbecue?" Scott asked, the tension easing away from his shoulders as his daughter spoke.

"We can do both. I've never had fondue, it sounds fun," Cassie replied.

"Then we'll have both," Scott agreed a smile breaking across his face even as his eyes became glassy. There was the Scott he had met before, Steve thought with relief, smiling and joking through his troubles.

"I know you can do it Daddy," Cassie went on. "I don't care about any of the other heroes, only you. I'm fine. I know you'll help save everyone and come back home. You go, but you always come home." That same surety in her voice hit both men like an attack hug.

"Oh Peanut," Scott sighed, his hands flexing, probably wishing he could hug her.

"So," Cassie commanded. "Get back to work and show Tony Stark you can solder just as adequately as the next average electrical engineer."

"Yes Sir, Ma'am, Sir," Scott barked.

Steve watched as Scott fell into silence still looking at the phone. Cassie was probably doing the same thing at the other end. She sounded so much like Scott, same sense of humour in how she spoke, same candidness and good nature. He wondered if she looked like Scott too.

As Captain America he was normally the one to give the supportive rousing speeches. Watching these two support and care for each other had sparked a deep longing for the family life he'd never got to live. He felt a stab of jealousy at the lonely man sitting in the middle of a half built time machine being comforted by his daughter on the other side of the country, who was, by the faint sniffles he could hear, crying. Then he felt stupid and guilty and finally stepped out from behind the wall.

Scott looked up as he approached, surprise morphing into embarrassment. He probably thinks I'm gonna tell him off, Steve thought and then checked himself, because that is exactly what he had been coming to do.

"Hey Cassie," Scott said, slightly too loudly as he stood up to greet Steve. "Want to say hi to Captain America?" Steve smiled and opened his mouth to say hello.

"Nah, I should go," Cassie said. Steve shut his mouth.

Double ouch, he thought, maintaining his smile as Scott threw him an apologetic grimace. She's definitely not forgiven me for dragging her dad into the fight in Germany. Not that you've given her a reason to, he reminded himself. Well he was gonna fix that, because Cassie was right. They wouldn't even be thinking of saving everyone if he hadn't turned up and convinced them to try. He didn't deserve to feel like he was less than the rest of them.

"Ok," Scott said awkwardly into the phone. "By-"

"Don't," Cassie snapped. "Sorry," she apologised. "I just don't… I can't…"

"I'll see you soon Cassie," Scott said, warmth radiating in this voice, all the understanding and loving support his daughter had given him now being returned to her. Steve felt the stab of jealousy again.

"I love you Dad, be safe," Cassie said, her voice barely trembling.

"I will Cassie, I promise," her father replied.

"Watch your back OK? You've promised I'll see you at home."

Triple ouch. Okay Cassie Lang, Steve thought, message received loud and clear. You don't trust us to look after your Dad. An unsettling feeling mixed with his lingering jealousy. He didn't like it when people considered him as an enemy, or was it possible she thought of him as a bad guy?

"Don't worry Cassie, your Dad is one of us now and we watch out for each other," he declared, loud enough for the phone's mic to pick him up, unconsciously dropping into his Captain America speech giving voice. "Sorry Scott, we need your help with something in the strategy room." The expression of surprise and cautious excitement on Scott's face was priceless but was undermined by the unimpressed pause of silence from the phone.

"Oh. Thank you, I guess. Dad? I love you. See you soon," Cassie said, with a dollop of disdain only a teenager can deliver.

"See you soon Peanut," Scott replied.

"See you soon Dad," Cassie repeated.

With a beep Scott finally hung up the phone, although it looked like it took some effort. He tucked it into his pocket and smiled at Steve.

"Thanks, I know that was a lie but I appreciate it," he said.

"I wasn't lying," Steve assured him.

"So you do need me in the strategy room?"

"Oh, no that was a lie, I thought you might have trouble hanging up," Steve admitted.

"Tut tut, Captain America, what will people think of you," Scott teased. Steve smiled back but it was only half strength, the opinions of one teenage girl in San Francisco having landed a solid punch to his gut.

"I meant the part about you being one of us," he said earnestly. "You've more than earned a place on the team Scott. I don't want you feeling like you gotta keep out of our way. No more eating alone and no more doing all the grunt work for Tony," he added, glancing back at the half built time machine.

"Ah it's OK," Scott said waving his concern away. "You know that's actually what I'm qualified in? Electrical engineering. So, this is something I can do to help. I want to help. And thank you, like I said, I appreciate it."

They nodded at each other.

"Lang," a cross voice rang out. "Why are you standing around. That failsafe better be wired in unless you want all our atoms scattered through space and time?"

"We were just talking Tony," Steve said giving the man at the door an eye roll. "Anyway I think we could all do with a break." He noticed Scott shuffling back towards the console, apparently deciding to get back to work rather than leave with him. Hell no, he wasn't losing this round because Tony was being an ass.

"Oh?" Stark asked petulantly. "This isn't important anymore?"

"It's a _time machine," _Steve said as he caught Scott by the shoulder and pulled him away from the machine and towards the break room. "If it works, a few minutes won't matter and if it's that critical you keep working on it. Scott's not had a proper break yet." He gave Tony a pointed glare and for his credit Stark took it in and looked Scott over, recognised that something heavy had just been going on and gave Steve the smallest of nods in agreement. "You know my coffee isn't half bad, I'll whip up a pot," Steve added, thumping the smaller man on the back.

"Don't you dare," Tony growled. "His coffee is whole bad Lang. I need you at your best if we're going to make this work. I'll get Friday to make the coffee."

"You know Scott's got a daughter too?" Steve asked Tony as they left the hangar.

"No," Tony replied, sounding sincerely interested. "How old?"

Steve glanced back over his shoulder at the pieces of time machine awaiting construction and then at the two men chatting amiably next to him. He'd thought he'd been doing an excellent job at not getting his hopes up, but he had been kidding himself. His hopes were up the second Scott's face had appeared on the gate camera and Scott hadn't let him down. Steve would always be grateful and it was high time he returned the favour, but first….

"Scott, does your daughter not like me?"

….

**Author's note:** I know I'm fond of him so I'm probably feeling over protective, but jeese were the remaining Avengers mean to Scott. It was like high school level bullying and Scott wasn't in their clique. He obviously looked up to them all and often referred to them by their full hero titles so he may have brought it on himself, but still, a little acknowledgement that he's kinda the one responsible for saving the universe wouldn't go amiss. Thanks for reading.


End file.
